Pass the mealworms please

Edible insects

A Thanksgiving feast is being served up in the Insectarium's "Bug Appetit" kitchen. On the menu are oven-roasted crickets, cornbread stuffing with mealworms and a bug-filled pumpkin pie - all for visitors to see get cooked, and sample.

The Insectarium, a huge bug museum with thousands of live critters, will be closed for Thanksgiving itself. But the special menu will be cooked up in the museum’s kitchen and served to visitors the three days before Thanksgiving and the day after.

Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP

Edible insects

Chef Jayme Necaise and sous chef Mack Cuenca, foreground, pose with a pumpkin pie made with crickets at the Audubon Insectarium in New Orleans, Nov. 25, 2013.

Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP

Edible insects

Sous chef Mack Cuenca places crickets atop whip cream on a pumpkin pie made with crickets at the Audubon Insectarium in New Orleans, Nov. 25, 2013.

Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP

Edible insects

Holly Cote, of Chicago, gets a high-five from chef Jayme Necaise after trying a spoonful of cornbread stuffing and cranberry sauce with mealworms and waxworms at the Audubon Insectarium in New Orleans, Nov. 25, 2013.

Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP

Edible insects

Jerica Stewart, 13, of Jackson Miss., eats a mealworm at the Audubon Insectarium in New Orleans, Nov. 25, 2013.

Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP

Edible insects

Barb Knapstein, of Diamondhead, Miss., tries cornbread stuffing and cranberry sauce with mealworms and waxworms at the Audubon Insectarium in New Orleans, Nov. 25, 2013.

Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP

Edible insects

Calvin Cote, 6, of Chicago, looks at live crickets, mealworms and waxworms at the Audubon Insectarium in New Orleans, Nov. 25, 2013.

Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP

Edible insects

Visitors watch food being prepared with waxworms, mealworms and crickets at the Audubon Insectarium in New Orleans, Nov. 25, 2013.

Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP

Edible insects

Holly Cote, of Chicago, tries a spoonful of cornbread stuffing and cranberry sauce with mealworms and waxworms at the Audubon Insectarium in New Orleans, Nov. 25, 2013.

Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP

Edible insects

Cooked waxworks and crickets are displayed at the Audubon Insectarium in New Orleans, Nov. 25, 2013.